Abani Sen (Indian, 1904-1974) Untitled (Animals in a Landscape)Abani Sen (Indian, 1904-1974)Untitled (Animals in a Landscape) pencil and watercolour on paper56 x 75.9cm (22 1/16 x 29 7/8in).ProvenanceAcquired at the artist's solo exhibition in Calgary, Canada in the early 1970s;Thence by descent.Abani Sen is regarded as one of the masters of modern Indian painting as he bridged the gap between the Bengal School of Art and the Bombay Progressives. Educated at the Government School of Art, Kolkata, he was part of the Art Rebel Centre which was poised as a counter-point to the Neo-Bengal school. They rejected both the romanticism of the Bengal School, and the academic realism of the the art school and gravitated towards adopting the contemporary visual language of European modern art movements. The two works in this auction are examples of this style.Sen is most well known for his depiction of animals and was particularly fond of painting cheetah's, bulls, horses, vultures and kites, either true to life, or romanticised. He employed a wide range of mediums including pencil, charcoal, conté crayons, pen, ink, watercolours, pastels and oils. His works were exhibited globally both during his lifetime and posthumously. Some exhibitions include the ones in Canada in 1970-71, where the two works in this auction were acquired, at his solo exhibitions in Lucknow (1943), New Delhi (1949 and 1951), Cairo, Istanbul, Ankara and Baghdad (1952) and Cuba and New York (1961). His retrospective was held in New Delhi in 1961, as well as in 1976 and 1978 in Canada. He was the recipient of numerous awards some of which included the 1945, 1946 and 1947 Annual Exhibition prize from the Bombay Art Society and the 1949 Governor Generals Plaque Award, New Delhi.